


They Aren’t So ‘MT’ After All

by EverAtYourSide



Series: Promptis Week 2017 [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Apology kinda sort as well, Ardyn is a dick, Desperation, I love you two dearly I swear, M/M, Post-Altissia Spoilers, Promptis Week, alternate chapter 13, gotta fulfill my angst quota for the week, no real surprises there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 18:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12114768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverAtYourSide/pseuds/EverAtYourSide
Summary: After accidentally pushing his best friend off the the train because of Ardyn's cheap tricks, Noctis is wracked with guilt and nothing is going to stop him from getting Prompto back safe and sound. Will Noctis be able to find the missing gunner in time? And if he does will he be able to save him before he crosses a point of no-return?





	They Aren’t So ‘MT’ After All

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6 - Desperation - ~~Apology~~  
>  (Primarily, I wrote with the desperation prompt in mind, but it actually ended up working pretty well for the apology prompt too apparently, so yeah. xD)
> 
> Woo! Look at me go, putting up two prompts in one day...! Even though its pretty much 3am where I am, I'm still going to say that I was able to get this up in time for Day 6, okay?? ;) 
> 
> Now, this fic is actually a small snippet based on one of the very first ideas I ever got while still playing through chapter 13 when it first came out. I won't spoil anything from the actual game but basically, I wanted to write a fic as a sort of alternate version of events of kinda what I had thought might happen with a bit of extra embellishing, so here ya go...!
> 
> Enjoy!

“Prompto!!” The raven-haired prince called frantically, down what seemed like every single empty hallway he came across. He had been running around Zegnautus Keep for who the hell knew how long… hours… days… weeks? All he had been here, Noctis spent running around aimlessly trying to catch some sort of glimpse that Prompto could still be alive after he himself had been stupid enough to fall right into Ardyn’s trap and accidentally push the blonde off the speeding train they had been riding on while on their way to Tenebrae.

_He is alive. He HAS TO BE._ The young prince kept repeating in his frenzied mind every time he turned a corner and the blonde was still nowhere to be found. _This is all part of Ardyn’s plan, and he wouldn’t go through all that trouble just to have me kill Prompto, right?_ The prince tried to reason as he continued to run down the maze of hallways and dead-ends that the Keep seemed to be able to offer in excess. _But then again… having the last thing Prompto sees being me pushing him to his death?_ That prospect seemed frighteningly similar to something that was right up Ardyn’s alley.

When Noctis first heard the bastard chancellor’s almost innocent like banter over the loudspeakers throughout the Keep, part of him was ready to rip the man’s vocal chords from his throat without mercy, but then, when Ardyn decided to start taunting the raven about whether or not he would be able to find his heart’s desire before it was too late, Noctis felt a surge of hope. The hope that was slowly blossoming in the pit of his stomach, swelled even higher when the chancellor continued to taunt him about whether or not he would be able to make it in time to save what he was so desperately seeking. He _HAD_ to be talking about Prompto, there was just no other explanation, which meant that the blonde was most likely _still alive._

The prince couldn’t believe the absolute grace of the six when he finally turned down yet another empty hallway and was able to catch the glance of a small utility looking room behind heavy metal bars. And right there… right there in the middle, was the unmistakable form of the blonde gunner that had been the whole reason that he had stormed into Gralea, the crystal, a mere afterthought.

“PROMPTO!!” The raven shouted in pure relief at finally seeing the gunner with his very own eyes. It didn’t seem as though he was conscious, and then a sudden horrible thought struck the prince, worrying that maybe he might have been too late after all… The unconscious blonde was in fact, slumped back across the chair he was secured to, very and terribly, unnaturally still. It looked as though his bonds may have well been the only things that were keeping the blonde upright.

_No… please no._ Noctis thought desperately as he sprinted over as quickly as his feet would carry him right up to the sturdy iron bars. After a second of testing their strength, it was fairly obvious that Noct would not be able to simply slip past the bars, nor would he be able to damage them in any significant way to get past them; but he _needed_ to get through them _somehow_. Prompto was _literally_ a few feet in front of him and the prince refused to give up after everything he had gone through while trying to locate the missing gunner, when he was so frustratingly close.

Luckily, before Noctis really had a chance to start panicking, he noticed that there seemed to be another room that was connected further back to the room that Prompto was in, and thank the astrals the door to that room was one that he had already managed to high enough of a clearance level to open.

Noctis had managed to sprint over to the fallen form of the gunner before the door to the other room had even closed. “Prompto…” he breathed softly, bringing his hand up so that he would be able to caress the blonde’s bruised and bloody face.

However, to Noctis’s complete and utter horror, when he finally laid a careful and comforting hand on the blonde’s pale face, something unexpected happened. Where mere moments ago had been the familiar face of his best friend… Noctis now found himself practically face to face with an empty Magitek suit which crashed loudly to the ground before becoming still once again.

“What the-” Noctis muttered, unable to believe what had just happened… that _had_ been Prompto hadn’t it? He had looked just like Noct had always seen him… so realistic; not a single freckle out of place. But… how?

“You better hurry, next time it might actually be your friend.” Noctis’s thoughts were cut short as Ardyn’s voice once again echoed all around the room, sounding unnaturally close. If he hadn’t know better, Noctis would have sworn that the chancellor was standing right there next to him, whispering into his ear.

“ARDYN…!” he yelled, knowing that the bastard could hear him. “LEAVE PROMPTO OUT OF THIS AND FACE ME YOUR SIX-DAMED SELF, YOU COWARD!!” Noctis couldn’t help but hold back the fuming and exploding anger that burst from his chest when he realized he had fallen for one of the chancellor’s tricks yet again. It certainly didn’t help things that Ardyn also seemed crazy determined to drag Prompto down into this whole shitfest. In reality, the blonde had nothing to do with this whole stupid grudge Ardyn seemed to have with him… Prompto was innocent... and yet, just because of the fact that he was important to Noctis, Ardyn seemed adamant to involve him. It made Noctis absolutely sick thinking about how the blonde was completely at the mercy of the bastard chancellor right now and it was all his fault.

Of course, Ardyn didn’t respond to anything that Noctis said… he never did, and Noctis hadn’t honestly expected him to either. He supposed it was all part of the game Ardyn was so intent on playing. So Noctis did the only thing he could do, and kept going; hoping and praying that the next time he found the blonde, that it would be the real flesh and blood Prompto.

* * *

 

Noctis had finally managed to navigate up another few floors when he came across a hallway that looked different that the millions of other ones he had run through before. The hallway was much wider and seemed to lead to an opening where he could just make out what looked like a small cell block. Noctis didn’t care about anything else except for the fact that there was probably no better place to look for the missing blonde than a bunch of jail cells.

The raven-haired prince swept down the long rows of cells before spying a much larger cell that was situated towards the back of the entire cell block. As he approached, he could vaguely make out something or someone suspended on some crazy looking contraption, with their arms raised so that the body was in an awkward T-shape. As Noctis got closer, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest once more when he quickly recognized the person who was strung up.

“Prompto!!” The frantic prince yelled. He pulled at the cell door which was blocking his way, and honestly couldn’t believe his luck when the door effortlessly swung open to allow him easy access.

The blonde’s head twitched slightly at the sudden exclamation, as he attempted to open his eyes and locate the source of the familiar voice.

“N’ct…?” Prompto slurred slightly, as he attempted to pull his head out from under the dense fog which surrounded it.

“Hey, buddy.” Noctis nearly laughed in relief. The blonde’s quiet and yet still unmistakable voice convincing him that there was no way that this could be another illusion… Prompto’s voice was so genuine, it HAD to be him. “There’s so much I need to tell you…” the prince frowned, he was definitely going to apologize for everything… for falling in the Ardyn’s trap, and for hurting the blonde in just about the worst way imaginable, but that could wait until he had made sure that Prompto was safe. “First things first though, let’s get you off of this thing-”

“No!” The blonde suddenly exclaimed, completely freezing the prince in his tracks. The blonde was definitely wide awake now and the look of complete horror on his face alone stunned Noctis into absolute silence.

“Prom…?” Noctis asked cautiously, wondering what could possibly have gotten the gunner so spooked. He thought maybe Prom had seen some kind of rogue daemon, or one of those annoying faulty Magitek Troopers scattered around the facility, just waiting for someone to cross their path so that they could put a quick end to them; but there was nothing. Nothing but the two boys still in the cell at the end of the block. “What are you talking about? We can’t just hang around here and we need to try and meet up with Iggy and Gladio… I’m sure that they’re around here somewhere…”

“You need to get out of here!!” Prompto practically screamed.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying, Prom…” Noctis continued, still having no idea what was wrong with the gunner or why he was acting like they were being attacked by some invisible hoard of daemons or something. “We need-”

“No.” The blonde cut in, “You have to… you have to leave me here...!” Prompto yelled, his voice breaking as he turned his head to the side in an attempt to avoid the raven’s piercing gaze; knowing that he would never be able to look the raven in the eye without completely breaking down. He _HAD_ to do this… there was just no other choice.

“It’s too late for me…” the blonde’s voice caught as he tried to choke back tears. “But you can still get out of here, Noct.” He pleaded with the shocked prince. “Please… I need to know… I need to know you got out…alive.”

“What the hell, Prompto?!” Noctis practically shouted back, feeling only slightly bad when he saw the blonde’s body shrink back at the harsh words. “I haven’t been running around here for days on end, just to turn around and run away like some kind of coward with my tail between my legs… especially not after I actually managed to find you…!”

“Please, Noct…” The blonde whispered, his voice barely audible, but the innate fear, still clear as day. “Please… just do it. For me… please, I’m begging you… before I-”

“Oh well isn’t this just heartwarming…?” A cool, deep voice that could only belong to a certain Niflheim chancellor suddenly came out of nowhere. At first, Noctis though that it was just coming from the speakers as it had been every single time before, but there was something that was just so… real about it that caused the prince to spin around on the spot; and there, in all his infuriating and ridiculous glory, was none other than Ardyn himself. “The charming prince has come to save the one he holds most dear… but wait, it seems as though his dear friend maybe doesn’t wish to be rescued…”

“What the hell did you do to him?!?” Noctis shouted, his channeled fury towards the man before him now back in full force.

“Not quite yet, young prince.” Ardyn tutted to himself, as though admonishing an impatient toddler. “That would ruin the surprise.” He chuckled lightly as he snapped his fingers and the restraints that had been holding Prompto up hissed open, and the gunner came crashing down hard on the floor waiting below.

Noctis quickly fell to his knees to try and help support the dazed blonde, but the moment he tried to help him, the blonde jumped back sharply, avoiding all contact with said prince and backing up so that he was huddled right in front of the contraption he had just been released from, making no further moves.

Ardyn laughed once again and Noctis turned to face the crimson-haired male with bared teeth and about the nastiest death glare he could manage, careful to place himself a few feet in front of the blonde protectively, as Ardyn started to take a few steps forward.

“Don’t you move another step towards Prompto, or you’ll regret it.” The prince hissed. “You may have sealed my magic, but don’t start thinking that I’m going to let you push me around like some helpless child.” It was true that Noctis wasn’t _completely_ helpless right now… he had been able to reclaim his father’s sword from Ravus after all, so he should at least be able to put up a decent fight if Ardyn did actually decide to attack. The prince quickly brandished the long sword as a way of letting the chancellor know he wouldn’t be going down so easily; even without his magic at his disposal.

“Someone’s feeling particularly feisty today, aren’t we? Even after everything that has happened to you the past few days…” Ardyn laughed lightly, before his eyes narrowed and an evil smile overtook his features and he simply brought up one of his hands and another loud snapping noise seemed to echo with a surprising amount of energy around the practically empty room. “But really… I don’t think that I am the one you should be worried about right now…”

A gun soon materialized in Ardyn’s grasp, one that was very familiar to Noctis and he could only watch in utter confusion as the chancellor casually tossed the gun behind him. _Why would he-?_ Is the only thought to cross the prince’s mind before he hears the distinctive click of the safety on the gun being removed and the prince turns around slowly to see Prompto now on his feet, with the gun cocked and aimed directly at his chest.

“Prom…? What the-” Noctis breathes out as it finally registers in his brain that Prompto… his best friend since High School… the person who was without a doubt more important to him than anyone else in the world… and here he was, standing with his gun trained directly at his chest. Not Ardyn’s… but Noct’s.

Noctis is able to get the slightest bit of comfort in the fact that the blonde is very obviously not doing this of his own free will. There had to be some way that Ardyn was controlling him… there just had to be. Noctis didn’t miss the way the blonde’s entire body seemed to be shaking and trembling with the effort of fighting whatever unseen force was attempting to take away control of his own body.

“Noct…” Prompto managed to force a harried breath as his face was contorted in the pain of trying to fight off the impulses that shot through every single nerve in his shuddering frame. “Please… I-I can’t… I can’t s-stop m-myself…” he gritted once more through his clenched jaw.

“Ardyn!!” Noctis roared as he dared to show his utterly unprotected back toward the gun that was still clutched tightly between the blonde’s uncooperating fingers. “What the hell did you do to him?!”

The crimson-haired man simply smiled as he took in the beautiful sight laid out before him. “Well, if you must know, Noct… it is quite the enthralling story if I do say so myself.” The man chuckled softly before taking a dramatic breath, as though he were readying himself for performing the lead role in a large play and was about to start off opening night. “Imagine my surprise when I just so happened to find out that your special little friend here… well, I had quite the laugh, myself actually-”

“If you have a point, you better make it.” The prince threatened as he readied his sword. “If not, don’t waste my time.”

Ardyn merely raised his eyebrows as he continued, completely unaffected by the Prince’s threats, “I just thought you would like to know that the boy you’ve been running around with so much for the past few years… he’s nothing more than a failed experiment, created here in Niflheim with the sole purpose of being turned into a Magitek Trooper. The very same Magitek Troopers that you and your group seem so fond of killing without a second thought.” The chancellor grinned. “Not so _‘_ MT _’_ after all, are they? Magitek are built with one purpose… and that is to obey orders. It’s good to see that dear Prompto right here can still behave like a good little Magitek, even after all these years away from his precious home…” Ardyn hummed. “I will admit that it took a bit of tinkering around inside his brain at first, but as you can see, he is finally back in working order once again.”

Noctis quickly turned his attention back towards the blonde who was still wholly embroiled in his constant internal struggle, desperately fighting against whatever control Ardyn had over him. “I-I’m sorry, Noct… I’m sorry…” he muttered hopelessly as he was slowly losing the ability to fight against the urge to surrender any last remaining control he had managed to retain over his trembling body. Large, pearly tears were now steadily streaming down the blonde’s face, knowing that Noctis had finally learned the horribly truth that he had fought practically his entire life to hide away, petrified that _anyone_ , especially Noctis would find out.

“You can fight this, Prompto.” Noctis said confidently. “You can’t let Ardyn win… I know you. I also know that you’re strong enough to get through this, you just need to keep fighting.”

“I-I’m trying…” Prompto moaned miserably, a small part of him relieved that Noct didn’t hate him and instantly turn his back on him for being from Niflheim; but then another part of him knew that he had tried fighting Ardyn before, and he was sure as hell fighting now… but he knew that eventually… eventually Ardyn would win. He was just too strong. But even though the gunner knew that he would never be able to win, that didn’t mean that he was give up completely. As long as Prompto could convince Noct to get out of here, then he would at least be able to find some kind of peace in that. “But he’s t-too strong… you need to get out of here… get out of here before I end up killing you!” The tears were streaming down the blonde’s face faster than ever now. “I c-can’t, Noct… please don’t make me shoot you...!”

“You’re not going to shoot me.” Noctis came back once again, his voice steady and low as he slowly started walking over towards where the blonde had been standing since the beginning; only stopping when the barrel of the shaking gun was a mere foot from his chest and his only protection being the thin cotton shirt he was currently wearing. “All of this is my fault…” the raven-haired prince apologized. “If I hadn’t been stupid enough to fall for Ardyn’s trick, you never would have been thrown off that train and thus you never would have fallen into Ardyn’s hands like this. _None_ _of this_ would have happened if I hadn’t been such an idiot… I’m so sorry Prom,” Noctis paused for a moment before finishing, “I swear to Shiva though that I’m going to make this right.”

“Isn’t that just precious, MT?” Ardyn cut in quickly. “Your prince is basically serving himself on a silver platter for you. Well, you don’t want to be rude and ignore his kind offer…” The chancellor laughs again, “Go ahead; shoot him.”

Noctis notices the gunner’s face contort painfully as he continues the attempt to defy the new order and power that Ardyn was impressing on him with increasing force. Prompto’s attention was brought back to the raven-haired prince in front of him as Noctis looked him square in the eyes and practically whispered, “You’re not an MT. You’re Prompto Argentum, and I know that you can beat this. You don’t have to follow anyone’s order but your own. I trust you, and I know you can beat this.”

At that very moment, Prompto wished more than anything that what Noct was saying was the truth… he wanted to believe it; no, he _needed_ to believe it more desperately than anything he ever had in his entire life. He even starts to think that maybe… just maybe he could do it; for Noct.

However, before Prompto could do or think about anything else, he heard the sound of another distinctive snap from Ardyn and his entire body locked up. He felt his consciousness fading fast and the last thing that he remembered before he was consumed completely by the encroaching darkness was hearing the distinct sound of a gunshot and the sound of someone yelling. Then, absolutely nothing.

* * *

 

Noctis could see that Prompto was fighting, and he prayed to the astrals that the blonde would finally be able to break through whatever control Ardyn had him under when he heard the man snap his fingers in the same exact way he had already done twice before…first, when he had released the restraints and second, when he brought the gunner under his control initially.

The prince had only a split second to react between hearing the snap and looking back at Prompto, swearing that he saw the blonde’s eyes flash a piercing red before he heard the gun fire loudly.

Thank the astrals for all the times that he had trained against the speedy gunner whenever they would camp at a haven… or otherwise had downtime to kill. It was because of all those intense sparring sessions that Noctis was able to react just quick enough to knock the gun from the blonde’s hands before the bullet had a chance to lodge itself into his chest, almost certainly killing him instantly.

Noctis listened as mere moments later, the gunner cried out loudly as though he had been the one who had been shot, though whether it was from surprise, anger or fear, Noctis had no idea.

Noctis felt Prompto go completely limp seconds later, quickly wrapping his arms around the blonde so that he was held tightly in the raven’s embrace. It wasn’t but a few seconds after that, that he could feel him start to twitch as he slowly regained consciousness.

Prompto slowly started to come back around and the first and only thing that he could wrap his mind around was the fact that he was that he had failed… he had failed to hold Ardyn back and by doing so he had shot the person who meant the world to him and more. It had been his job to protect Noct, and he had fucked it all up… how could he possibly even lay eyes on either Gladio or Iggy after what he just did?

And then as though some sort of switch clicked in his frantic and frenzied brain, Prompto instantly wondering… if he had just shot Noct… how in the world was he still standing? What was this pressure around his chest? His heart jumped when he reasoned that the only person it could possibly be would be Ardyn; but the embrace was comforting, and gentle, and Ardyn was definitely neither of those things.

“n-noct…?” Prompto asked, hardly able to believe his eyes as he saw a definitely still alive Noctis and can do nothing as a strangled cry escaped his throat.

“Yeah, It’s me, Prom. I’m here.” Noctis replies in a gentle and calming voice as he refuses to let the blonde out of the steadying embrace.

“how…how a-are you-?”

“Still alive?” Noctis asks with the slightest bit of a smile making its way onto his face. “It seems you’re not quite as quick of a draw as you might have thought.” He laughs softly.

“B-But I… It’s still not safe…” The blonde muttered. “I can still f-feel him… his control… you need to go before-”

“Never.” Noctis cuts him off, refusing to listen to such things for even a moment longer. “I told you before… Prompto is Prompto, and no-one can make you do anything you don’t want to do. No matter what that bastard says, you are NOT a machine. You may have been meant to be one, but that doesn’t matter now. You are a 100% genuine _human being_ who is capable of making his own decisions in life, okay?”

“I can’t fight him…” The blonde manages to choke out.

“Not alone you can’t, but that’s why you have me.” Noctis replies softly as he leans in so close that their faces are practically touching. “I’ll always be here to bring you back, okay?”

Without even thinking, Noctis brings his face even closer to the blonde’s until their lips meet and the raven pulls Prompto into a deep kiss. He knew that he had always cared about Prompto, but he hadn’t realized exactly how much the gunner really and truly meant to him until after he had accidentally pushed him off the train and spent the next endless number of days feeling as though he was only running around as an empty shell of himself.

After seeing everything that happened just now, Noct had finally come to the realization of exactly how important the gunner was to him and how he never wanted to leave his side ever again. At first the young prince was anxious that he had acted too rashly when he felt the blonde stiffen at the sudden contact, but it wasn’t but a few seconds later that he felt the blonde relax and he starts to lean in and reciprocates the motion that he was able to relax and relish in the feeling of his lips on Prompto’s.

“I’m so sorry, Prom.” The raven quickly apologizes once more. “I swear I didn’t mean any of what I said on the train… I never would have said or done any of those things to you if I had known, I swear. It was Ardyn… he tricked me. ALL of this is Ardyn’s fault and I swear to you, I’m not going to let him get away with it. Speaking of which…” The raven added as the two boys separated long enough so that Noctis could look around for the crimson-haired bastard himself. Noctis had been so distracted by trying to bring the gunner back from the edge, that he had completely forgotten about the ridiculous man that had done nothing but wreck their lives since the day they met him.

Noctis quickly scanned the room, but was confused to find absolutely no trace of Ardyn anywhere. He _had_ definitely been here just moments before, but for whatever reason, he was no longer anywhere in sight. Noctis couldn’t believe that the man would give up so easily, but maybe the two of them should take this unexpected opportunity to get the hell out of here and maybe even regroup with Iggy and Gladio.

All of the rational parts of his brain urged Noctis to get out with Prompto while they still had the chance, but after so much time of worrying about whether or not Prom was alive or dead because of his own fuckup, all Noctis wanted to do was take advantage of the moment of calm they had been granted and hold the blonde tightly to prove to himself that Prompto was really here and more importantly, he was alive and Noctis would never let him go.

“I knew you could do it, Prom.” Noctis uttered softly as he continued to hold the blonde tightly.

“Couldn’t have done it without you.” Prompto replied as he buried his head in the crook of Noct’s shoulder. “Thanks for not giving up on me… I love you, Noct.”

“I love you too, Prom.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated. :)
> 
> Free to check out my blog on tumblr! [ever-at-your-side-15](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ever-at-your-side-15)


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